Yubico Forum

Re: YubiGuard - Prevent accidental release of YubiKeys.

2016-09-01T20:18:35+01:00

Hi Tom2. Great I'll hope many more people will find YubiGuard useful.

With the most recent version I added a new feature: The Screen Lock Mode.

The screen lock mode allows for automatic and immediate screen lock when a YubiKey is removed from its USB port.

This is a security feature. I assume many people like me use YubiKeys to login to their computer. With the new screen lock mode you can login into your system and remain that way until you remove your YubiKey from its USB port. Then you will require it again to login. Therefore the presence of the YubiKey is more strongly required for using the system. Somewhat analogues to your car keys which need to be in the lock the whole time you are driving.

As always I welcome any feedback and (especially) stars on GitHub.

Statistics: Posted by YubiGuard — Thu Sep 01, 2016 8:18 pm

Re: YubiGuard - Prevent accidental release of YubiKeys.

2016-08-08T10:34:25+01:00

Thanks for this post, will forward to marketing.

Statistics: Posted by Tom2 — Mon Aug 08, 2016 10:34 am

YubiGuard - Prevent accidental release of YubiKeys.

2016-08-07T18:09:35+01:00

Quote:

Oooops! I just posted my most intimate passphrase into the plains of the web.
Happened to me. I am certain it happened to you.

Especially with the Nano form factor accidental triggering of your YubiKey happens easily.
For example when just re-positioning my laptop I often haphazardly touch my YubiKey potentially bringing doom over my security setup.

For Linux users I just created a tiny script to protect against this danger.
I call it YubiGuard. You can find it here together with the necessary instructions:

https://bfelder.github.io/YubiGuard/

It is much more advanced than YubiSwitch, a less sophisticated predecessor.
Several notable improvements in this regard are:

No root privilege required to run! (A much criticized security flaw with YubiSwitch.)
No unintended output release after reactivation, if you pressed your YubiKey while locked!
Detects YubiKeys automatically, no need to hardcode ids manually.
Can handle multiple YubiKeys concurrently.
Timeout which locks off YubiKey after 5 seconds, to keep "the lid closed tight".
Automatically locking after YubiKey has been triggered. (Smart isn't it?)
Panel indicator showing the activation status of YubiKey(s).

It works meticulously on many popular Linux Distros and with all YubiKey models tested.
(A shout out to Yubico who provided additional models for testing.
It demonstrates how this company cares for its community and how it is committed to the development of the YubiKey ecosystem.)

Its easy, fun to use. I am certain the Linux users among us will find this tool very useful.
If you like YubiGuard just let others know by leaving a star on its GitHub page.

Download zip archive:
https://github.com/bfelder/YubiGuard/zipball/master

Statistics: Posted by YubiGuard — Sun Aug 07, 2016 6:09 pm